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1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of telecommunications, and in particular, to a service control system that grants or denies users requests for communication sessions to the communication system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When a user attempts to gain access to a communication system, a communication device sends a request for a communication session. The request format is typically a signal. One example of a signal format is Signaling System 7 (SS7), which is well known in the art. For example, when a user attempts to make a landline telephone call, a switch detects an off hook condition and collects caller entered digits for a phone number. The switch sends a query to a Service Control Point (SCP) to determine how to process the call.
The SCP receives the query and determines routing instructions for the call. Interactions between the SCP and the communication system are typically done by Transaction Capabilities Application Part queries (TCAP), which are well known in the art. The SCP responds with routing instructions for the call.
For example, the communication system queries the SCP on an xe2x80x9c800xe2x80x9d call. The SCP processes the xe2x80x9c800xe2x80x9d number and returns routing instructions for the call. The SCP contains a database of xe2x80x9c800xe2x80x9d numbers and the routing instructions for the number. Another example of SCP functionality is dealing with Local Number Portability (LNP). LNP allows users to keep prior telephone numbers regardless of moving to a different telephone company. The SCP receives the user""s number and processes the number to determine the number""s routing path. The routing path for the call is typically influenced by communication system performance.
Communication system performance is typically determined by examining activity and congestion in the communication system. Communication system performance encompasses the amount of activity in the communication system, the amount of data sent through the communication system, and the number of people attempting to access the communication system.
A typical communication system contains network devices such as switches, routers, bridges, and transmission lines. When an individual switch becomes overloaded or inoperative, the data path through the communication system deviates accordingly. Unfortunately, when multiple switches become overloaded or inoperable, the data flow is unable to deviate as effectively and thus becomes disrupted, corrupted or lost.
The proliferation of telecommunication services, including wireless and Internet access, and the increase in telecommunication users are overloading current communication systems. For example, a customer using a cell phone at a football game receives a xe2x80x9cnetwork busyxe2x80x9d signal because the wireless base station is overloaded with customers. While communication systems limit access to subscribers, restrictions within subscribers only occur when the communication systems become overloaded and overly congested. These restrictions are both late and ineffective as the communication system is already congested. As such, even users who access the communication system experience reduced connection speed, reduced reliability, and involuntary termination from the communication system.
The invention solves the above problems by granting or denying requests for communication sessions. A service control system receives a request for the communication session. The service control system processes the request to determine the service availability level for the time period. Service availability levels are the probability of access to the communication system at specific time periods. The service control system determines whether to grant the communication session based on the service availability level for the time period and the communication system performance. The service control system transfers a reply based on the determination whether to grant the communication session.
The invention includes methods, systems, and software for operating a service control system. In one embodiment of the invention, the communication system transfers a TCAP query to the service control system. In another embodiment of the invention, the service control system then receives the TCAP query from the communication system. In another embodiment, the service control system accesses the user""s service level agreement from a storage system. In one embodiment, the service control system processes the service level agreement. In another embodiment of the invention, the service control system determines the communication system performance. In one embodiment of the invention, the service control system processes the service availability level against the communication performance to determine whether to grant the request for a communication session. In a further embodiment of the invention, the reply is a dial tone or network busy signal, which indicates the determination whether to grant the users request for a communication session.
The invention has several advantages over previous communication systems in that access to the communication system is kept at a level where congestion and network load is maintained at a manageable rate. While users can access the communication system, access is based on the individual service level agreement and the communication system performance. For example, users can be segregated into different classes of service such as gold, silver, and bronze classes. A gold user has the highest probability of accessing the communication system while bronze users have the lowest. In some embodiments of the invention, the classes of service can be used to designate the user""s level of access to the communication system. Communication providers then have the ability to control which classes of users have access to the communication system. As cost increases with the increase in probability of access the majority of users, inferably, will be bronze or silver. Thus, with reduced congestion, users who access the communication system typically receive faster connection speeds, more reliable service and reduced involuntary termination.